The Cure
by Lialioya
Summary: On the winter solstice, only five days until Christmas, North goes missing. Panic runs rapid as sickness creeps through the children's minds, making them doubt the Guardian's existence. Due to the absence of one Guardian two temporary ones rise to help defend the world against Pitch's return, this time with prodigious power. Will it be enough? Possible Jack/OC and Sandy/OC
1. Prologue

Jamie's eyes flew open as panic contorted his sleeping frame and filled his heart. Hands shaking horribly, he wiped the sweat off of his brow and sat up in his bed. He shivered, realizing his covers lay discarded on the ground from his attempt at sleep he just escaped.

That was the third time that week.

He swung his legs off of the bed and hopped off, no longer wanting to sleep.

Besides, true rest wouldn't come. Just nightmares.

Jamie sighed and placed his elbows on the windowsill, watching snowflakes dance joyously to the ground. Normally the sight of fresh winter snow would cheer him up, but not that night.

The young boy looked up at the moon in an almost pleading way. He remembered, as did the rest of the children, that Easter day all those months ago. Jamie recalled how the Guardians had come to save him from Pitch's evil clutches.

Most vivid of all, he remembered that they had won

But why then did nightmares cloud his mind from good thoughts? Why could he not dream peacefully? Why was he starting to doubt?

Why was he having trouble believing?

Jamie stared at the moon, the sight of the Guardians vanishing in its light fresh in his mind, but fading.

Did they not care anymore? Was there an expiration date on their oath to protect the children of the world?

Jamie heard a creak and saw yellow light bathe the wall beside him. He turned to see a yawning Sophie trudge into his room, clutching a stuffed rabbit she had begged for after the Easter incident.

"You should be sleeping, Sophie," Jamie told his younger sister.

Sophie only gazed at her brother through messy blond hair with round green ponds, swirling with thought. She toddled to his bed and slumped on it, still looking at him.

"No, you can't stay in here," the little boy sighed and started to walk over to bring her back to her own room.

She clutched the fabric tightly and whimpered. Had his delicate sister been lashed by nightmares as well?

But Jamie was in no mood to be sympathetic or kind. He felt angry, abandoned and alone. Didn't the Guardians know how he suffered from this?

"No, Sophie! Get out of my room!" Jamie suddenly snapped.

Sophie looked as if his words struck her physically, but in reality they just crushed her feelings. Eyes welling with tears she left his room in a hurry, and Jamie felt remorse wash over him as her door shut down the hall.

"Why did I say that?" Jamie covered his face in shame. He never ever wanted to hurt his sister, yet he felt a powerful push that made the words come spilling out.

Crawling onto his bed slowly, he grabbed the covers and threw them over his head and closed his eyes.

He would rather risk another nightmare than to do something that would hurt anyone else.

Things were changing, and that little boy knew it.

He slipped into sleep and back into the clutches of terror.

A similarity between the horrors and consciousness scared Jamie more than any dream could.

Reality was becoming a nightmare.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hope you liked reading the prologue, because yes, future chapters will be longer. Reviews would be amazing, because I am actually stepping into alien territory right now. New Fandom, new approach, but I'm excited.**

**Much thanks to my amazing Beta, Dreaming2Bawriter who will hopefully do the next chapters as well.**

**Hope to see you all soon,**

**~Lialioya**


	2. The Caliginous Wood

**Well, here's chapter two. **

**Enjoy.**

**~Lialioya**

* * *

The darkness was sliced open by a pure ray of light, causing the gloomy and unsettling forest to be illuminated for a heartbeat before it was swallowed by night once more. The old gnarled trees that made up the forest shifted in a slight breeze as the magic dispersed, and soon went back to drearily hanging in long overgrown paths.

In the midst of the caliginous wood, there was a young girl in her late teenage years with a pounding heart. The question of why she was there raced past her thoughts while she cautiously adjusted her stance, peering into the unyielding darkness. She felt a spiteful gaze on the back of her neck, but was hesitant on checking to see if her imagination was getting the best of her in this forlorn forest.

Trying to calm her nerves, she took a deep breath and clutched the small stick she wield until her knuckles were white. With a terrible feeling in her gut she studied her surroundings with more definitude now that she had somehow managed to muffle her fear. The bleakly colored landscape she was in radiated dejection and it reflected heavily on her mood.

Despite the awful condition the wood was in, she felt a strange tug towards a certain direction. Relief washed through her and she basked in it for only a second before refocusing. At least now she knew she was there for a reason, and pulled out of the small town she was in for a purpose.

The Man in the Moon was clouded from her, as grey fog swirled and writhed above her head, the seriousness of the situation becoming clear to her.

It was a rather alien prospect, to be pulled from everyday life to do some task, but as a spirit, she knew full well she was capable, and even jumped at the idea. Finally maybe she would get some recognition for this.

A large gust of wind blew her simple brown hair into her eyes, but even though she could not see were the wind had blown to, she sensed that was the direction she had to go.

Every step she took echoed in the forest, and she was constantly looking over her shoulder nervously for any signs of a stalker. The eyes that watched her were darker than the shadows in which they peered from, but no matter how many times she looked, not a soul or spirit was in sight.

Yet that of course didn't mean there was not any.

As she walked on, the ground beneath her feet started to hum. At first it was soft, then it got louder and louder until she could barely hear her own thoughts. The tugging in her gut grew more impatient, urging her on to her destination as if this task was time sensitive.

Moving aside a bush with an outstretched arm, then instantly taking it back and shielding her streaming eyes as a blinding ray of red light made her eyes water horribly, she blinked profusely before trying once more, this time her eyes squinting but still open to see the miraculous sight before her eyes.

The trees that hung lazily in every other part of the forest were forced back as if tied, but no holds were visible. It seemed the raw energy that spiraled in the clearing kept them at bay. After a few seconds she could vaguely distinguish a red object that was intertwined with black, as if the darkness was trying to strangle the life out of it.

After further inspection, she came to realize that the black was coiled around a single and unrealistically large rose that glowed as if a bright light was shining within it. The red fought to be seen, struggling to bypass the dusky haze that surrounded it. It was obvious, however, that the rose was losing. It seemed to have been fighting for an uncalculably long time, and it was clear the rose was getting weaker and weaker with each passing second.

She had to do something, and fast.

Hesitantly approaching the rose, she felt the air around her grow heavy, as if she was being forced back by a dark veil. Struggling with all her might, she took a step forward but was hurtled back to the bushes from which she entered the clearing.

She groaned slightly and shook her head as dizziness disoriented the world around her. Shakily getting to her feet, she shrugged off the last of the pain and readied herself.

If she was not to go to the rose, then she would just have the rose come to her.

Using the stick she had managed to cling onto as a guide for her power, she focused on the spreading warmth within her that The Man in the Moon had told her to find, she screwed her eyes shut in concentration. She had done this a million times before, but she knew better than before not to get careless.

A memory vaguely came into her mind, but she banished it from disrupting her train of thought. The past would only bring her down, and she knew that as well.

The frail stick trembled slightly before it released a spiraling purple ray of magic towards the rose. She concentrated, not paying attention to the progress she was making, for she could perceive the reaction it would have on her engagement. She could not risk being lead astray. Not again.

Her own intense power penetrated the thick veil and wasted no time obeying her commands and surrounding the rose tightly, not allowing the black to seep through her own writhing bonds.

She could feel her first adrenaline rush fading, and that meant she was quickly losing power. She swallowed, her mouth already dry with the effort of continuously fighting off the darkness that was rapidly gaining the upper hand once more.

Jerking her stick towards the sky, she guided her power, which was still diligently clinging to the flower, towards the grey clouds as well. The darkness tried mightily to drag the rose back down and keep it locked in its cage of black, but she was faster. The rose was plucked from its stem and yanked from the binds of dark, but not for long.

She smiled to herself for a second, but that was her mistake.

The black moved at lightning fast speeds, wrapping itself around the flower and trying to get it back onto the stem. She panicked, yanking the rose to her in a desperate movement. It did as she asked, except the black came as well, and she felt it radiate evil as the flower stopped inches kn front of her face.

She put out both her hands, and as grotesque and slimy as the dark felt, she didn't remove them from either side of the flower. She immersed herself in dispatching the dusky magic that was persistent to keep its prisoner.

She let her magic yank off the ebony talons that clutched it with difficulty. Whoever had cast the spell, certainly knew what they were doing. The inky substance kept just out of reach of her magic, so it was impossible to douse it. Yet there was something she could do.

Peeling each of the individual pink petals with her bare hands, she quickly removed the flower to see what was being so desperately hidden.

She stared in wonder as the flower vanished into a red haze that still slowly circled the young woman who was unconscious. The woman's chestnut brown hair had a dull grey tinge to it, and her usual peach colored skin resembled burnt parchment. Her usual billowing white shirt was wrinkled from being in containment for so long, as were her traditional brown pants. The distinguishable silver headband told the girl who she was as soon as she looked at it, and she remembered staring into the gold tinged eyes that were closed in slumber.

"Oh no." The girl whispered, her voice catching in her throat. "Oh no, how can this be?"

The raven shadows had started to close in on her once more, swooping in like ravens to take back the woman that lay motionless in her arms, but her purpose was done.

The same blinding light that brought her to the piceous wood in the first place provided her an exit, keeping the murk at bay as they were transported far away from the clutches of the onyx forest.

* * *

With an almost hesitant push, the door swung open and the teenage looking boy stepped into the room, a pained expression on his face.

Yet he chose to come, and he would stand by his decision as much as it made him heavy hearted.

He slowly examined the room, the normally cheerful fire usually reflected off of the intricately built train track warmly, and ordinarily the entire area was lit up festively. His regularly spirits sank lower as he drank in the dead hearth, the gloomy track, and the toys strewn around the room which commonly looked like an almost adequate messy seemed dejected and cold, just like the temperature of the room, but the temperature was not something that bothered Jack Frost.

It had been only a few hours - which seemed like a lifetime - since the yetis had sent out the distress call, making he and the rest of the Guardians flock to the north pole, only to realize that their beloved jolly Santa was not there to greet them. Knowing that he could be dead made an emotional weight be put on Jack's shoulders, especially since the last time they had seen each other they had fought.

In the dimly lit room, Jack almost missed the tiny wooden egg-shaped baby that teetered precariously on the edge of a table, just as North had left it before he went away and never returned. Jack pulled down his hood and carefully picked up the small item, as if it would shatter in his hands. The massive blue eyes that peered up at him only made him sink lower into depression.

"That is my center." Jack heard North's deep and accented voice in his head. "What is yours?"

Jack sighed, and that simple breath was laced with so much emotion it was almost heartbreaking. He put the small baby down again, unable to stand there for another second. He needed to clear his head, and staying there, mulling over the past was not helping that.

No sooner had he stepped out of the room, did he hear his name been called. "Jack!"

He recognized the light voice that quavered with sadness and worry ever so slightly in a heartbeat and turned to reply to Tooth. "Yeah?"

She stopped herself right in time before smashing into him and sending them both reeling, and she settled for hovering nervously in front of him. He knew the situation was serious when she didn't even make a move to stick her fingers in his mouth to poke and prod at his "White as snow!" teeth. "There's someone at the door. We don't know if we should answer it."

"What do ya mean?" Jack asked, confused. "Who is it?"

"We . . . don't exactly know, but apparently it's urgent."

Jack wasted no time following Tooth down the stairs to the brightly lit foyer, that seemed a bit dejected as well in North's absence. Bunny was hollering at the person on the other wide.

"Alright there, I'll ask ye one last time. How did you find us?"

"I told you!" The female voice on the other side sounded utterly vexed, and Jack couldn't help but find a bit of sympathy for her. He knew that Bunny could be a total jerk when he put his mind to it. "I don't know! I just appeared on the front steps and-"

"Listen here, lass." Bunny raised his boomerang in warning as if she could see him, even though she couldn't. "No one just appears on our front step! Now who do you work for and what do you want?"

"Please!" The woman suddenly sounded scared. "She's getting cold!"

Bunny looked at Jack and Tooth in disbelief as Sandy floated in the room, wondering what the commotion was while clutching a glass of eggnog. They watched as Bunny continued his verbal assault. "Who's this. . . she?"

The woman didn't answer.

Bunny put away his boomerang and started to walk away. "Nope. Nothing to be concerned about. She can stay outside."

"Maybe we could take a look?" Tooth asked hopefully, her denied fragility showing in her pleading expression and shaky voice. Bunny looked at her for a long time before deciding to go easy on her.

"I guess."

She wasted no time fluttering over and peering through the peephole. They watched for her reaction, but it was not what they expected. Without warning she opened the door and quickly ushered whoever was out there inside. "Yes, come on in."

"Oi!" Bunny yelled, but fell silent as he looked at exactly who he was hollering at before, and who Tooth without a second thought let in.

Before them stood a shivering young woman with vibrant blond hair sprinkled with snow and vivid brown eyes. A spirit.

Her teeth chattered noisily and her whole body trembled, but she still held onto the limp body in her arms as if they were connected. The woman looked deathly ill.

"I think-" The woman started, then shivered violently before continuing. "I think she's dying."


End file.
